English title: The Gendarme and the Extra-Terrestrials
St. Tropez is visited by extra-terrestrials who take on the appearance of existing humans. One of the gendarmes see a flying saucer and the others do not believe him. Then another one sees it. Meanwhile they meet alien impostors who sound hollow and drink oil.
A weak installment with a few funny sequences. The reckless driver nun is back. The same joke of mistaking alien copies for their human counterparts is repeated ad nauseam.
Rating: 34
English title: The Troops on Vacation
The Saint-Tropez gendarmes are forced into retirement. They have a hard time adapting to an idle life. When they hear that one of their squad is in a mental hospital with amnesia, they set out to rescue him. Later, they must stop a bunch of kids who plan to launch a nuclear missile.
This fourth installment of the Gendarme franchise deals with the problems of retirement in middle age. The humor is very bland and aimed at a very undemanding public. However, the general idea of a bunch of (not very) old guys looking for something to do and clinging to old times has a certain pathos to it.
Rating: 34
Two segments: (1) The Tuba ("A Tuba"). In a small town, an attractive woman does not get the attention she deserves from her husband, who is focused on his tuba playing in the municipal band. She is approached by the town mayor, who has an unusual proposition for her. (2) The Shag ("A Transa"). During a new year's eve party, a bunch of couples engage in adulterous affairs.
Though devoid of any higher artistic ambition, this sex comedy does not hit rock bottom either. The acting is passable, and the script, adapted from a popular Brazilian play, while hardly brilliant, works as a vehicle for some mildly interesting sequences. The segments are different in tone, the first one slightly surreal and the second one more sprightly.
Rating: 36
